Rainton 10k

The weather turned out to be more or less perfect for this years 10k race at Rainton.  My plan was to try and get round in under 37 minutes but having not raced at all this year I knew pacing myself would take some doing. From the start I tried not to get carried away by going too fast and tried my best to set a pace that I thought I could maintain until the finish or maybe even speed up a touch by half way if all was well. By the time I had completed the first mile I knew that there was little chance of me maintaining my pace to the finish but I pressed on anyway in the hope of getting to the finish in the 36 minute range. I was pleased to see the three mile marker as my legs and lungs were starting to let me down big style but looking at my watch 17 mins 11 seconds everything was not lost in the hope for a sub 37 minuter. I was slowing considerably as other runners started to come past me and just in case I didn't think the off road section was hard enough the  mile after that really did finish me off. Luckily it wasn't just me that found the previous mile such hard work as a runner in front of me pulled over for a breather, the last mile saw me hit the auto pilot button which isn't much use in a race situation but excellent for getting back to the finish at a reasonable good plodding pace. My final time was 37 mins 52 secs and about 10th overall. Not bad for a start but maybe I might be better suited to 5k races going off this result, either way it was another enjoyable day racing.